How long should I be at the gym?

the amount of time at the gym is proportional to the number of buff guys there are to gawk at, the more men...the longer the "rest" between sets should be and the longer it will take you to complete your routine.

I agree that it depends on the program you're on. My trainer can destroy me in 30-40 mins. If I go to the gym on my own, I'm usually there for about an hour. But I get more volume of exercise in during the shorter sessions with the trainer.

Create or follow a well balanced routine. Go to the gym, stay until your are finished with your routine. Go home. It doesnt matter if it takes your 35 mintutes or 2 hours. What i dont think is a good idea is to wander aimlesly around the gym for 2 hours with no goal or a routine that makes no sense. Best wishes to you!

I go until I am done.

Which is usually about an hour for lifting. I do my cardio later in the evenings.

I'm doing Stronglifts, three times a week. It takes about 30 minutes with 90 second rest periods. As things get harder, it will probably go up to 45-60 minutes to incorporate 3 minute rest periods. Add some time in for a little warm up, some foam rolling and stretching, and you probably have an 45 to 75 minutes. Add more on if you plan to do accessory work.

As others have said, it all depends what program you are doing. Get a good program, like Stronglifts, Starting Strength, New Rules of Lifting for Women, etc... and spend as long at the gym as it takes to complete the programmed sets.

The whole time.

It really depends on your workout agenda (exercise, sets, and reps) and how it takes to complete them.

It all depends on how much time I have to spare. I am doing this program at the ymca called actitrax and it calls for 20 mins of cardio at least and weights which takes me close to an hour cause I am still learning where the machines and what the workouts are. So I am there at least an hour or more but I love to have a full 2 hours at the gym. 20 mins for cardio doesn't feel like enough for me.

Thanks for all the input!!

I started out going for an hour but then I bumped it up to 1 & 1/2hrs and now I've been going 2hrs but I was told that was too much(I do at least 90mins of cardio everyday at home on top of this). I kinda wing it when I'm there, I'm not on any program. I usually only give myself 30secs between sets and I just go straight from one exercise to the next. Since someone told me 2hrs was too much, I was just wondering what a good amount was

2 hrs plus all that cardio is overkill. Why do you exercise so much??? That's 3.5 hrs???

Once I set the bar so high, I feel like I have to at least do that the next time so 1hr becomes 2, and 2 becomes 3, etc. I've been told by multiple ppl it's too much. I was thinking of scaling back so that's why I was curious what others did

Definitely scale back. If you are only taking 30 second rests between sets you are turning your resistance training into cardio as well. I bet you are doing high reps too, right?

Check out a program like Stronglifts, Starting Strength or NROLFW. Put the weight up, the reps down, and increase your rest periods. Keep lifting as lifting, and keep cardio as cardio.

I promise that unless you are taking steroids and/or growth hormones, you are not going to get 'bulky'.

Due to injuries, I can't do weight training anymore. So I have a programme of one hour of jivamukti yoga (which is pretty intense and strength training for a class - I walk out drenched in sweat and no, it's not heated yoga); one hour of bootcamp reformer pilates (another pretty intense, strength and core training class) and then a couple of hours of spin and a dynamic yoga class every other week on my weekends. So far, so good. I am the most advanced person in my classes and my strength is better than ever before.

good for you! I love hearing what people do when they don't lift heavy

I go to the gym every other day for strength training... I'm wondering if there is a certain amount of time I should spend there? What's considered too much? Does it stop being beneficial after so long.. More isn't really better?

Thanks for any advice!

how long does it take to complete the total amount of sets and reps in the program that you're following?



....wait, you are using a solid, full body resistance training program, aren't you? you aren't just going in and winging it, doing a lil of this and a lil of that, are you? hello? is this thing on?

I follow the boys around and do what they're doing. Except that thing where they lift the barbell off the floor, because ewww calluses.

^^seriously?? wow. Bet you put full makeup on too before you go work out, huh? :noway:

Until you finish your routine silly

Thanks for all the input!!

I started out going for an hour but then I bumped it up to 1 & 1/2hrs and now I've been going 2hrs but I was told that was too much(I do at least 90mins of cardio everyday at home on top of this). I kinda wing it when I'm there, I'm not on any program. I usually only give myself 30secs between sets and I just go straight from one exercise to the next. Since someone told me 2hrs was too much, I was just wondering what a good amount was

2 hrs plus all that cardio is overkill. Why do you exercise so much??? That's 3.5 hrs???

Once I set the bar so high, I feel like I have to at least do that the next time so 1hr becomes 2, and 2 becomes 3, etc. I've been told by multiple ppl it's too much. I was thinking of scaling back so that's why I was curious what others did

Definitely scale back. If you are only taking 30 second rests between sets you are turning your resistance training into cardio as well. I bet you are doing high reps too, right?

Check out a program like Stronglifts, Starting Strength or NROLFW. Put the weight up, the reps down, and increase your rest periods. Keep lifting as lifting, and keep cardio as cardio.

I promise that unless you are taking steroids and/or growth hormones, you are not going to get 'bulky'.

Some of them are higher reps like the leg press... I try not to go over 180lbs because going higher seems to hurt my back. Other exercises like the lat pull down I only do like 5 sets, 10 reps of 60lbs... Like w/ those, should I increase the weight and do less? How long should rest periods be?

For maximum benefit, it's generally recommended that you lift the maximum you can for the reps you are doing. i.e. you should feel like you'd fail rep eleven. Once you are lifting at this sort of weight, your rest periods will extend naturally, simply because you'll need them.

The exact number of reps you do depends on your goal. Roughly speaking -

Under 6 reps - primarily strength
7 to 12 reps - primarily growth
12+ reps - primarily endurance

Though each range will contribute something to all three goals.

I urge you to check out some expert literature, and to consider training with free weights instead of machines. I just wasted nearly a year on machines, and wish I had used free weights from the beginning.

I lift for about 45 minutes.